The Stones in the Park

Hyde Park Festival, 5 July 1969

Free concert by the Rolling Stones
Venue	Hyde Park, London
Date(s)	5 July 1969
Attendance	250,000[1]–500,000 (estimated)[2][3][4]
the Rolling Stones concert chronology
European Tour 1967 Hyde Park Festival, 5 July 1969 American Tour 1969

The Stones in the Park was a free outdoor festival held in

It was the Stones' first public concert in over two years, and was planned as an introduction of their new guitarist, Mick Taylor, though circumstances inevitably changed following the death of former member Brian Jones two days earlier. The band rehearsed at the Beatles' studio in a basement on Savile Row, and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards came up with a 14-song set; the Hyde Park concert would be the first time many of the songs had been played before a public audience. The PA system was supplied by Watkins Electric Music, who had handled amplification at previous Hyde Park events.

Fans started to arrive at the park with candles on 4 July in tribute to Jones, and by the morning of 5 July, 7,000 people had already gathered. Jagger read a short eulogy on stage before the Stones' set began, reading two stanzas of

However, the gradual estrangement of Brian Jones and his decreasing musical contributions – he had only appeared on two tracks on the then in-progress Let It Bleed — made a return to touring problematic. They had shelved The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus after having been upstaged by The Who.^[13] By June 1969, matters had finally come to a head and it was decided that Jones should be replaced for the gig.

Mick Taylor, who had by this time obtained a reputation for himself by playing with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, was invited to work on Let It Bleed. The band enjoyed his contributions and decided to make him an offer to join full-time. After considering this for a few days, he accepted,^[13] and his position was officially announced at a press conference in the park's bandstand on 13 June. The single "Honky Tonk Women," recorded on 1 June with Taylor, was rush-released to tie in with the festival date.^[14] The Hyde Park concert would be Taylor's first gig with the band, and as they had barely had any time to rehearse with him he was understandably nervous.^[13] Jagger, too, was nervous, unsure whether Jones's fans would take to Taylor and indeed whether they would boycott the concert; he did not expect the crowd to match the 150,000 who had come to the Blind Faith gig.^[12] In addition, the hot summer had sent the pollen levels soaring and Jagger suffered from hay-fever and laryngitis in the days leading up to the concert.^[12]

Jones died on 3 July, two days before the festival. The Stones were in Olympic Studios when they were told of his death by Ian Stewart, and, although grief-stricken, decided they would go ahead with the gig and dedicate their performance to him.^[13] Keith Richards later wrote:

The all-important thing for us was it was our first appearance for a long time, and with a change of personnel. It was Mick Taylor's first gig. We were going to do it anyway. Obviously a statement had to be made of one kind or another, so we turned it into a memorial for Brian. We wanted to see him off in grand style. The ups and downs with the guy are one thing, but when his time's over, release the doves, or in this case the sackfuls of white butterflies.^[4]

The band rehearsed at the Beatles' studio in the basement of Savile Row, and Jagger and Richards came up with a 14-song set; the Hyde Park concert would be the first time many of the songs had been played before a public audience.^[12]

Performance

The performers at the festival included Third Ear Band, Screw, King Crimson, Alexis Korner's New Church, Roy Harper, Battered Ornaments, Family and The Rolling Stones.^[14]

Fans started to arrive at the park with candles on 4 July in tribute to Jones, and the police allowed the park to be opened late so they could stay.^[14] By the following morning, there were already 7,000 people.^[15]: 323 As with the Stones' performance at the infamous Altamont Free Concert later that year, the Hells Angels were hired as stewards to protect the stage and equipment,^[2] something suggested by the Grateful Dead's manager Rock Scully, who was used to the Angels performing this service at free festivals in California.^[12] According to Cutler, Jagger said that he was keen on doing a similar free concert in California at some time in the future.^[12] At Hyde Park, fifty Angels patrolled the vicinity of the stage, though there was little resemblance other than a superficial one to their American counterparts. They performed their duties in exchange for a cup of tea.^[12] In the event, there were only twelve arrests on the day and a subsequent police report claimed that the Angels were "totally ineffective".^[12]

King Crimson at this point still consisted of the original line-up of Robert Fripp, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Michael Giles and lyricist Peter Sinfield. They had not yet released an album, and were invited to play on the strength of word of mouth after their live performances in venues such as the Marquee Club.^[16] Sam Cutler introduced them on stage, stating the "new band is gonna go a long way".^[17] The band's setlist was "

Three of the tracks appeared in studio form on the band's debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, albeit with different lyrics compared with the performance here.^[17] The band's set has since been released on CD, with some bonus material.^[18] Recalling the event, Fripp remembers the sense of community at the event and the good weather, particularly noting a sense of goodwill backstage.^[14]

Alexis Korner's involvement with

Roy Harper had been regularly appearing at a number of Hyde Park festivals since 1968 and saw his popularity increase as a result of these. This eventually resulted in Blackhill's Peter Jenner managing him, leading to a contract with Harvest Records.^[20] For 5 July gig, he contributed a one-song set between equipment changes.^[14]

The Battered Ornaments had been the backing band for Cream collaborator Pete Brown. They performed without Brown, who had been fired from the band the previous day.^[21] Guitarist Chris Spedding took over lead vocals.^[22] The band supplied the armoured personnel carrier that carried the Stones from their hotel to the park.^[14]

The Rolling Stones

The band met at the Londonderry Hotel on

Before the Stones opened their set, Jagger addressed the crowd, asking them to be quiet so he could read something as a tribute to Jones.

The Stones then launched into "I'm Yours and I'm Hers", which, according to Philip Norman, was an ironic choice given that Marianne Faithfull and Marsha Hunt, both of whom Jagger was alleged to be having relationships with at that time, were in the audience.^[12] (The song was performed because it was a favourite of Jones.)^[24]

The setlist for their performance was "

During the 18-minute-long rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil", a number of Ginger Johnson's African tribal drummers joined the band.^{[11]: 42:25 [12]} After the concert ended, the volunteers who cleared up the 5,000 tonnes of rubbish were each given a copy of "Honky Tonk Women".^[12]

Though park keepers feared that the crowd would cause damage to the park, an official estimate suggested the cost was only around £100 (now £2,000). Park superintendent John Hare reported the most serious damage was to a silver birch tree planted the previous year. He praised the concertgoers, many of whom helped clear up after the concert and were awarded with a free Stones LP if they returned a full sack.^[25]

Date

Equipment

Blackhill Enterprises provided a 6 feet (1.8 m) high stage, with the speakers being housed in a thirty-foot-high tower so that people at the far end of the park would be able to hear the music.

In 1971, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Richards said, "We played pretty bad until near the end, because we hadn't played for years ... Nobody minded, because they just wanted to hear us play again."^[29]